Possibly you have a prototype that wasn't supposed to be on the street and sold? Take a look at your IMEI (should be listed on a sticker under the battery, etc.) -- does it start with 00? A proto has a special IMEI with those digits.

Note '001' for North America as per the link above. Maybe this is why your phone is having issues? Also, I *bet* (I don't know, just making an educated guess) that RIM has test PIN numbers as well, which might actually be the data problem. Take a look at your PIN -- does it look fishy in any way (all the same digit, some impossible pattern like 012345, etc.)?